Trump and Covid-19: His Mistakes

Status
Not open for further replies.
I just saw a snippet of Rachel Maddow's show which played a 40-second long animated graph produced by the BBC. It's a running timeline showing the infection rates for the ten or so most infected countries. The way the US suddenly eclipses all others makes viscerally apparent the abject failure of the so called Greatest Nation. Late in response, and inadequate. A sign of a Power in decline.
 
Lurch said:
I just saw a snippet of Rachel Maddow's show which played a 40-second long animated graph produced by the BBC. It's a running timeline showing the infection rates for the ten or so most infected countries. The way the US suddenly eclipses all others makes viscerally apparent the abject failure of the so called Greatest Nation. Late in response, and inadequate. A sign of a Power in decline.
Click to expand...

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/...nifests-as-international-disaster-81814597573

The graphic is about 4 minutes in
 
Lurch said:
I just saw a snippet of Rachel Maddow's show which played a 40-second long animated graph produced by the BBC. It's a running timeline showing the infection rates for the ten or so most infected countries. The way the US suddenly eclipses all others makes viscerally apparent the abject failure of the so called Greatest Nation. Late in response, and inadequate. A sign of a Power in decline.
Click to expand...

A sign of an incompetent president with a sycophantic party more concerned with retaining power than their country behind him.
 
Late Night with Seth Meyers (April 8, 2020):
Trump Wants Everyone to Forget He Ignored Repeated Coronavirus Warnings: A Closer Look

 
smartcooky said:
There isn't any iceberg.
There was an iceberg but it's in a totally different ocean.
The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon.
There is an iceberg but we didn't hit the iceberg.
We hit the iceberg, but the damage will be repaired very shortly.
The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.
We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are beautiful lifeboats.
Look, passengers need to ask nicely for the lifeboats if they want them.
We don't have any lifeboats, we're not lifeboat distributors.
Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats.
I really don't think we need that many lifeboats.
We have lifeboats and they're supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passengers' lifeboats.
The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.
Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg.
Click to expand...


Fake news! The "ICEBERG" didn't actually kill anyone!

Why aren't you giving me credit for all the water I hit that wasn't frozen?
 
Since only 2/3 of the passengers died from the ship hitting the iceberg, I think I did a great super excellent perfect job dealing with the iceberg.
 
Darat said:
And

No one knows what an iceberg is
Click to expand...

Nobody knew an iceberg could be so big. You look at it, it's this tiny little thing, but most of it. Most of it is actually under the water. It's true. Most people don't know that. I call it, "the tip of the iceberg". I invented that term. Nobody said it before me. Now, you hear it all the time. "Tip of the iceberg".
 
abaddon said:
Right, I am out on the road working. Cops can arrest you and hand out fine and up to 6 months in jail for being out and about.

Trump simply can't give a ****.
Click to expand...

Not if you're essential, your employer should have given you a letter indicating as such. What state are you referring to?
 
No one knows icebergs better than me!
People are saying to me Sir, how do you know so much about icebergs, Sir? I don't know! Maybe I just have a natural talent for it. A lot of people don't know this, but I had a super smart genius uncle at MIT who was a physics professor AND an electrical engineer. Super smart. I just have great genes. I guess that's why I am so good at knowing icebergs.
 
Cheetah said:
Yeah, saw that this this morning on AL Jazeera.
Also how he is blaming the WHO for the pandemic and threatening to withhold funding.
The man is unbelievable. I thought Zuma was bad.
He had plenty to say about how he took it seriously from the start. How the WHO covered it up when they knew about it months before. How he saw it coming and acted before anyone else thought it was going to be a problem.
What is wrong with him?
I'm beginning to lean to the 'serious mental problem' camp.
Click to expand...
It it just me or does Trump and his administration seem to be getting worse?

I mean, they were messing up right from the beginning, but now it seems like they are getting almost cartoonisly evil.
 
Segnosaur said:
It it just me or does Trump and his administration seem to be getting worse?

I mean, they were messing up right from the beginning, but now it seems like they are getting almost cartoonisly evil.
Click to expand...

It's not just you. Trump and his gang are desperate to blame anyone but themselves for this Covid 19 fiasco. Sure, China is absolutely responsible for hiding and lying about the seriousness of the virus but that in no way excuses Trump for his lack of action and his downplaying of the situation. Trump was informed from our own Intel that the virus could be a "cataclysmic event":

From that warning in November, the sources described repeated briefings through December for policy-makers and decision-makers across the federal government as well as the National Security Council at the White House. All of that culminated with a detailed explanation of the problem that appeared in the President’s Daily Brief of intelligence matters in early January, the sources said. For something to have appeared in the PDB, it would have had to go through weeks of vetting and analysis, according to people who have worked on presidential briefings in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

"The timeline of the intel side of this may be further back than we’re discussing," the source said of preliminary reports from Wuhan. "But this was definitely being briefed beginning at the end of November as something the military needed to take a posture on."
Click to expand...
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/int...isis-early-november-sources/story?id=70031273
 
Segnosaur said:
It it just me or does Trump and his administration seem to be getting worse?

I mean, they were messing up right from the beginning, but now it seems like they are getting almost cartoonisly evil.
Click to expand...



There was a line in a book I read many years ago that stuck with me: "It's not your fault, it's your responsibility."


The virus isn't Trump's fault; he didn't make some bat virus mutate so it could infect humans, he didn't force people to interact with the bats so they could catch it, he didn't cause the Chinese government to downplay the seriousness of the infections early on in the crisis.

But dealing with the situation as it was presented to him? That was absolutely his responsibility. It would have been the responsibility of anyone who was President of the United States when this thing hit. It was the responsibility he went out of his way to win in the election, and to hold on to throughout the impeachment process.

And of course we know his response to being held responsible. "I take no responsibility at all."
 
Pence's office won't allow health experts to talk on CNN any more (in interviews and such) because the network has not been carrying the briefings in their entirety. Mostly they just play Trump's blathering, then cut to a fact check when Pence comes on. They often cut back after the talking heads discussion as the experts are sometimes talking.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/09/media/pence-office-tv-bookings-coronavirus/index.html
 
Last edited:
Stacyhs said:
This pretty much sums it up:

https://www.theatlantic.com/i
Click to expand...
A very long but well worth reading article! A clear and detailed list of facts outlining the incredible incompetency of Trump and his minions. This should be required reading for any idiot that approves of the job Trump has done. Sadly, it would probably not get through to many of them because it's just 'fake news'.
Click to expand...
It should be noted that that article was written by David Frum, who is actually worked for George Bush. (So, there are a few republicans who haven't gone totally off the deep end.)
 
Segnosaur said:
It should be noted that that article was written by David Frum, who is actually worked for George Bush. (So, there are a few republicans who haven't gone totally off the deep end.)
Click to expand...

It gives me hope. I'm not a Meghan McCain fan, but at least she is smart enough to see Trump for the POS he is. Hopefully, being John McCain's daughter and a Republican, she can get through to some fellow Repubs, too.
 
Segnosaur said:
It it just me or does Trump and his administration seem to be getting worse?

I mean, they were messing up right from the beginning, but now it seems like they are getting almost cartoonisly evil.
Click to expand...
The parallels with the Zuma administration we had here, is astounding.
It looks fairly bad to start off, but not too bad, almost amusing. Things get worse so slowly you hardly notice it. Next thing you know he’s doing whatever he wants and gets away with it because he has cronies in all the key positions.
johnny karate said:
This pretty much sums it up:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a...-paying-the-price-for-trumps-failures/609532/
Click to expand...
Thanks. Wow.

Wartime president. War crimes.
 
Last edited:
The New Yorker describes an unneeded and quickly abandoned website, and equipment being designed and manufactured by amateurs, in anticipation of Federal contributions from FEMA that simply never appeared. There were *zero* shipments of N95 masks into the US for march, when our caseload and death count were skyrocketing.

As expected, in line with the absurd "Gubmint shouldn't do nuthin" ultraconservative view, but as most already know, they were sitting around picking their noses when even a poor president and team would have moved into high gear. In other words, on an A-F letter grade, they were withdrawn from the class, someone on the waiting list was given the now-vacant spot in, so they don't get feedback to begin with.
 
Cheetah said:
The parallels with the Zuma administration we had here, is astounding.
It looks fairly bad to start off, but not too bad, almost amusing. Things get worse so slowly you hardly notice it. Next thing you know he’s doing whatever he wants and gets away with it because he has cronies in all the key positions. Thanks. Wow.

Wartime president. War crimes.
Click to expand...

His behavior has become normalized. He's IS getting away with whatever he wants because he has McConnell controlling the Senate and he's fired anyone who doesn't toe his line. If we don't get rid of him in November, who knows what he'll feel empowered to do with no re-election hanging over his head.
 
Darat said:
And

No one knows what an iceberg is
Click to expand...

I know all about icebergs, my uncle was a super genius at MIT, everyone here is surprised how much I know about icebergs. No-one knows more about icebergs.




No-one knew icebergs were made of ice until now.
 
“I knew there was an iceberg. I warned everybody and our preparations were just fantastic.”
 
Masque said:
“I knew there was an iceberg. I warned everybody and our preparations were just fantastic.”
Click to expand...

Reporter: Mr. President, if you knew there was an iceberg and were prepared
for it, why did the ship sink?

Trump: What a horrible question! Horrid. Who do you work for? Fake News
CNN? Failing NY Times? Is this supposed to be a "gotcha" question?
The ship sank because the Do Nothing Democrats blocked all our
preparations lead by Nancy the Ripper and Cryin' Chuck. Why do they
hate America?
 
Trump was just asked if he would overrule FL Gov. De Santis if he ordered the state's schools to reopen. Trump said it was his right to do so under the Constitution if he wanted to. He's wrong.

The federal government cannot commandeer the machinery of the state governments (or, by extension, of local governments). That is, the federal government cannot coerce the states into taking actions to suit federal policy preference. See, e.g., New York v. United States and Printz v. United States. And so, the federal government cannot compel state and local officials to promulgate different rules on social distancing and the like.
Click to expand...

As noted above, federal law is supreme over state law in our system. And so, if there is an otherwise-constitutional federal law compelling an outcome that runs contrary to a state or local rule, the federal law prevails. But it does not follow that President Trump can therefore override state and local rules on matters like shelter-in-place.
Click to expand...
First, no currently existing statute plausibly can be read to confer such an authority on the president. The Stafford Act, the Defense Production Act, the Public Health Service Act, and the various statutes triggered by a declaration under the National Emergencies Act—none of these come close to authorizing something like this.
Click to expand...
https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-fed...nment-rules-social-distancing-promote-economy

ETA: Trump just claimed again that he 'has great authority if he wanted to use it' in regards to shutting down states where the virus is 'out of control'.
 
Last edited:
So a few more screw-ups on the testing front:

From: https://www.businessinsider.com/tru...urces-covid-19-community-testing-sites-2020-4
The Trump administration is cutting federal support for coronavirus testing sites and prompting states to take control of them...
...
Update (9:52 p.m. ET): The White House on Thursday reversed its decision to cut federal resources for testing sites, according to NPR. A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote a letter opposing the federal pullback

It was a dumb plan by the Trump administration to cut back on their support for testing. Yes, some states may have the resources to take over (and some have), but not all. Fortunately there were enough competent republicans to join Democrats in opposing the cuts.

Secondly, Trump wants to re-open the economy around May, but doesn't really think widespread testing is needed...

From: https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...r-widespread-testing-before-reopening-economy
President Trump on Thursday shrugged off the need to significantly expand nationwide coronavirus testing capabilities in order to be able to restart the U.S. economy and then keep it open. The president, who has expressed optimism that parts of the country could begin easing social distancing restrictions by early May, told reporters a White House briefing that ramping up testing to levels recommended by health experts to quickly identify new clusters would be a goal, but is not a necessity...

So once again he seems to be over-riding the recommendations of people who are more knowlegable than him. And once again he has given a date for 'reopening' the economy that may not be achievable.
 
Stacyhs said:
Trump was just asked if he would overrule FL Gov. De Santis if he ordered the state's schools to reopen. Trump said it was his right to do so under the Constitution if he wanted to. He's wrong.





https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-fed...nment-rules-social-distancing-promote-economy

ETA: Trump just claimed again that he 'has great authority if he wanted to use it' in regards to shutting down states where the virus is 'out of control'.
Click to expand...

I am sure you can find other legal opinions saying he does have the right.
Personally I believe in allowing the states to make their own decisions and I bet Trump doesn't override either. Unless it becomes a much more dire situation than it is now.
 
smartcooky said:
There isn't any iceberg.
There was an iceberg but it's in a totally different ocean.
The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon.
There is an iceberg but we didn't hit the iceberg.
We hit the iceberg, but the damage will be repaired very shortly.
The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.
We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are beautiful lifeboats.
Look, passengers need to ask nicely for the lifeboats if they want them.
We don't have any lifeboats, we're not lifeboat distributors.
Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats.
I really don't think we need that many lifeboats.
We have lifeboats and they're supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passengers' lifeboats.
The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.
Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg.
Click to expand...

I took the above idea and re-worked it using actual Trump quotes, even if the timeline isn't exact. I invite other forumites to add quotes regarding the distribution of lifeboats.


“We have it totally under control. It's just one iceberg coming in from Greenland.”

“We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this ocean at this moment — five — and those icebergs are all very far apart.”

“Now, the iceberg that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in.”

“There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm — historically, that has been able to melt icebergs.”

“The iceberg's going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will just disappear.“

Crunch! Rumble, rumble, rumble.

“We hit with the iceberg really three minutes ago, if you think about it, I guess. That's when we first started really to see some possible effects.”

“I think every aspect of our ship should be prepared. I don’t think it’s going to come to that, especially with the fact that we’re still afloat, not sinking. We’re going very substantially up, not down.”

“And I’ve gotten to know the crew. They’re incredible. And everything is under control. I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.”

“I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. ... Every one of these icebergolists said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of becoming the captain of this wonderful ship.”

“No, I’m not concerned at all. No, we’ve done a great job with it.”

“Anybody who wants a lifeboat gets a lifeboat. And they're wonderful lifeboats, really beautiful lifeboats.”

“So last year 3,700 people died in shipwrecks. It averages between 2,000 and 7,000 per year. We‘re still afloat, life & the voyage go on. Think about that!”

“We're not sinking. Just stay calm. We're not sinking.”

“The Fake Situation Reporters and their partner, the Cunard Line, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the iceberg situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Our chief engineer has said, ‘The risk is low to the average Passenger.’”

Headline: TITANIC DISASTER — GREAT LOSS OF LIFE

“I’ve felt it was an iceberg long before it was called an iceberg.”

“I think we did a great job handling the sinking. And it started with the fact that we kept a very highly impacted ship, despite all of the passengers and even the crew saying, ‘No, it’s too early to do that,’ we were very, very early with respect to the iceberg and we would have a whole different situation on this ship if we didn’t do that.”

“I didn't know people died from cold water.”

“And so, we held that down, as we’re saying, to 1,500 – it’s a horrible number, maybe even less, but to 1,500, so we had about 2,200 on board – we altogether have done a very good job.”

“I don’t take responsibility at all.”
 
Last edited:
eeyore1954 said:
I am sure you can find other legal opinions saying he does have the right.Personally I believe in allowing the states to make their own decisions and I bet Trump doesn't override either. Unless it becomes a much more dire situation than it is now.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find one. Maybe you can?

What I could find were these saying he can't:

Can President Trump order them (governors) to change course? The short answer is no, unless he wants to disregard the Constitution.
Click to expand...
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/03/25/trump-or-governors-whos-the-boss/

Can a U.S. president override state-mandated “shelter in place” orders?

No. The Trump administration can issue nationwide guidance, but it would be unconstitutional for the president to override stay-at-home orders from governors, said Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law at the University of Texas. Mayors or county commissioners are on the same footing as governors, he said.
Click to expand...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...le-power-to-restart-u-s-economy-idUSKBN21B3F5


Could President Donald Trump, in the name of restarting the economy, repeal the lockdown or semi-lockdown conditions that now exist in much of the United States, with nonessential stores shuttered, large groups prohibited, and many places of business closed?

The answer to that question is almost certainly “no.” From Connecticut to California, it is state and local officials who have ordered most of the nation’s current restrictions on daily life. Mr. Trump could direct federal workers to return to their offices, and order some businesses to produce certain items under the Defense Production Act. But in terms of direct action, that’s about it.
Click to expand...
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2020/0326/Could-Trump-end-lockdowns-Three-legal-issues
 
Blue Mountain said:
I took the above idea and re-worked it using actual Trump quotes, even if the timeline isn't exact. I invite other forumites to add quotes regarding the distribution of lifeboats.


“We have it totally under control. It's just one iceberg coming in from Greenland.”

“We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this ocean at this moment — five — and those icebergs are all very far apart.”

“Now, the iceberg that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in.”

“There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm — historically, that has been able to melt icebergs.”

“The iceberg's going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will just disappear.“

Crunch! Rumble, rumble, rumble.

“We hit with the iceberg really three minutes ago, if you think about it, I guess. That's when we first started really to see some possible effects.”

“I think every aspect of our ship should be prepared. I don’t think it’s going to come to that, especially with the fact that we’re still afloat, not sinking. We’re going very substantially up, not down.”

“And I’ve gotten to know the crew. They’re incredible. And everything is under control. I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.”

“I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. ... Every one of these icebergolists said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of becoming the captain of this wonderful ship.”

“No, I’m not concerned at all. No, we’ve done a great job with it.”

“Anybody who wants a lifeboat gets a lifeboat. And they're wonderful lifeboats, really beautiful lifeboats.”

“So last year 3,700 people died in shipwrecks. It averages between 2,000 and 7,000 per year. We‘re still afloat, life & the voyage go on. Think about that!”

“We're not sinking. Just stay calm. We're not sinking.”

“The Fake Situation Reporters and their partner, the Cunard Line, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the iceberg situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Our chief engineer has said, ‘The risk is low to the average Passenger.’”

Headline: TITANIC DISASTER — GREAT LOSS OF LIFE

“I’ve felt it was an iceberg long before it was called an iceberg.”

“I think we did a great job handling the sinking. And it started with the fact that we kept a very highly impacted ship, despite all of the passengers and even the crew saying, ‘No, it’s too early to do that,’ we were very, very early with respect to the iceberg and we would have a whole different situation on this ship if we didn’t do that.”

“I didn't know people died from cold water.”

“And so, we held that down, as we’re saying, to 1,500 – it’s a horrible number, maybe even less, but to 1,500, so we had about 2,200 on board – we altogether have done a very good job.”

“I don’t take responsibility at all.”
Click to expand...

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant! I was laughing so hard my husband came in from another room and asked me what was so funny.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
A rather good article about Trump's priorities in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic...

From: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/n...p-partied-golfed-held-fundraisers/2941076001/
By Friday, March 6, there was no escaping the fact that the spread of the novel coronavirus would soon upend American life. There were confirmed cases in two dozen states...
...
Armed with all of that evidence, President Donald Trump spent the next week treating COVID-19 in much the same way that he had over the previous two months: he hosted large gatherings at Mar-a-Lago, went golfing, attended fundraisers, dispensed misinformation about the virus and flouted social distancing guidelines known to stem its spread....The White House’s account of Trump's week omitted three of the days, including a Sunday and Monday he spent in Florida hosting a birthday party for his son’s girlfriend, golfing with Major League baseball players and headlining separate reelection fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago and a donor’s private mansion.
 
Segnosaur said:
A rather good article about Trump's priorities in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic...

From: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/n...p-partied-golfed-held-fundraisers/2941076001/
By Friday, March 6, there was no escaping the fact that the spread of the novel coronavirus would soon upend American life. There were confirmed cases in two dozen states...
...
Armed with all of that evidence, President Donald Trump spent the next week treating COVID-19 in much the same way that he had over the previous two months: he hosted large gatherings at Mar-a-Lago, went golfing, attended fundraisers, dispensed misinformation about the virus and flouted social distancing guidelines known to stem its spread....The White House’s account of Trump's week omitted three of the days, including a Sunday and Monday he spent in Florida hosting a birthday party for his son’s girlfriend, golfing with Major League baseball players and headlining separate reelection fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago and a donor’s private mansion.
Click to expand...

But, but....he always took it seriously because he knew it was a pandemic before anyone else!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom